Palestinians award journalist Helen Thomas

4/3/12 1:49 PM EDT

In other journalism award news, the Associated Press reports that Helen Thomas -- the longtime White House reporter who was forced to resign after she said that Jews “get the hell out of Palestine" -- has received a prize from the Palestinian National Authority.

The top Palestinian envoy to the U.S. recently hosted longtime American journalist Helen Thomas at his Washington residence and honored her for taking a tough stand against Israeli occupation, a senior Palestinian official said Tuesday.

Thomas' observation that Israelis should get "out of Palestine" forced her into retirement in 2010 and was denounced by the White House and her press corps colleagues.

Palestinians "are occupied and it's their land," she said at the time. Asked where Jews should go, she replied, "Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else."